Danni
I liked the idea of this book much more than I actually enjoyed reading it. My favorite essays from this collection lay at the intersection of personal and pop cultural; when they are good they are outstanding. But, there's just something about this book that made it so hard to finish. It became such a long time since I first started reading it that I began to look at this book as cursed. Maybe I picked it up at all the wrong times. The thing is I still really want to like this book.
I don't know—this was entertaining enough as an audiobook that I did finish it up. It inexplicably instilled a deep yearning to smell their signature fragrance, “You”. I made a trek over to the brick and mortar store in hopes of smelling it...which I now wear everyday. I guess you could say this was an influential work on my life.
I love Sam. I just know we would be the kind of friends who keep saying we should hang out but neither of us are motivated enough to actually pull the trigger-but when we do, it's amazing and we are drinking margaritas and just giggling the whole time. With that being said...this one felt like it needed more time in the oven. I know it was partially written during COVID and it kind of feels that way. There were a few compelling chapters (sex and the city rewrites did make me pass away) but the rest felt filler-y.
I wish I knew how hard the last chapter (consider the alternative) hit before I decided to read it on my lunch break at work. Nothing's more awkward than choking back tears while you survey the lounge to see if anyone sees you!!! The rest of the book was lighter, just a heads up. This is my first Nora book and probably not my last.
I would give this 2.5 stars if I could. I want to preface this by saying I listened to the audiobook and I'm not sure if that helped or hindered my experience. I think I was really hoping and wishing for a more sequential series of personal stories (even though she explicitly said it wasn't a memoir!). It just didn't move, enlighten, or really entertain me very much. I love Drew and still do...holding out for a more classic style memoir from her at some point.
I listened to the audiobook of this one and I'm so glad I did! She recounts so many life experiences that would be totally and utterly spirit-breaking for most, but she does it with such charm that it's disarming. I would not say she sugarcoated anything-it was just so casual that it felt like she has really handled and processed her grief in a healthy way. This whole book felt like catching up with a really really interesting friend.
This book started off really promising. I was way into the first half because I appreciated the focus on the characters involved. After the halfway point this book focused way too much on the business and numbers side of the company for my taste. I came for the tea and by the end it was cold! Still getting 3 stars because I appreciated the insight into some juicier vignettes of the company's lifespan.
The back half of this book was stacked but it took a while for it to click with me. I appreciate knowing her story but the way it was told left me with the sense that she felt unimpressed with her life and herself. Maybe I'm interpreting it wrong but I think she's cooler than she let on and I wish there was a moment of reflection on how influential she's been.
The content really carried this book. Happy that Jennifer told her story despite the mafioso-like influence Hefner and the Playboy brand at the time had on the publishing world. The writing feels a little disjointed which makes me think that some things were cut out. Regardless, I couldn't stop reading.
This book is so poorly written, but I felt as if Jill was coming from such an earnest place that I couldn't put it down. With help from another writer, I think this could have been a really powerful account of Playboy politics in the early aughts, but as of now it feels like a bunch of half baked diary entries. There's a bit of charm in that, I guess.
It's clear that Nancy Jo pretty much hates the “youth of today” (who essentially are adults at this point) and particularly hates young women. She revels in seeing them fail or become something that isn't classically “intelligent” or “productive”. Nancy Jo's feminism seems to stop at the second wave. Aside from her commentary on culture, I enjoyed being transported back to the early and mid aughts.
